1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combined assembly of a fixing base and heat pipes, and in particular to a combined assembly for providing heat conduction for electronic elements.
2. Description of Prior Art
With respect to the heat conduction of electronic heat-generating elements, the industry nowadays utilizes heat pipes because of their high heat-transferring capacity, light weight, simple structure and versatility. The heat pipe can transfer a large amount of heat and thus is very suitable for meeting the demands for the heat conduction of the electronic products. The heat pipe is usually combined with a fixing base, thereby increasing the contact area between the heat pipe and the electronic heat-generating element efficiently. Therefore, whether the combination between the fixing base and the heat pipe is good or bad may affect the heat-transferring performance and the stability in fixation directly. Thus, it is an important issue in this art to enhance the firm combination and tight contact between the fixing base and the heat pipe.
Conventional combined assembly of the fixing base and the heat pipe includes a fixing base and a heat pipe. The fixing base has a plate body. The bottom surface of the plate body is formed with a rectangular opening trough. The heat pipe has an end to be heated and a heat-releasing section. The end to be heated is accommodated in the opening trough, and the heat-releasing section is formed above the plate body. A portion of the end to be heated abuts against and contacts the inner wall of the opening trough. With the above arrangement, the combined assembly of the fixing base and the heat pipe can be formed.
However, in practical use, the conventional combined assembly of the fixing base and the heat pipe still has the problem as follows. Since the left and right inner walls of the opening trough of the fixing base are vertical, the fixing force between the fixing base and the heat pipe after compression and combination is very small. As a result, the heat pipe and the fixing base can be detached from each other or get loosened due to the collision occurred during the assembling procedure (or during the process of combining with heat-dissipating pieces). Therefore, the heat-transferring performance and the stability in fixation are poor, and thus needs to be improved.
Further, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,516, the bottom surface of a fixing base is provided with a semicircular opening trough. The width of the opening trough is smaller than the radius of the semi-circle. A heat pipe is embedded in the opening trough and then is subjected to a leveling process. Via this process, although the heat pipe can be retained therein, it is difficult to assure that the plane of the heat pipe and the bottom surface of the fixing base are located in the same plane. Thus, it is necessary to perform a secondary process such as grinding or milling to treat the combined assembly of the fixing base and the heat pipe. Since the angle formed between the bottom surface of the fixing base and the opening trough is acute, the edge of the acute angle may be flipped over or collapsed after the secondary process. As a result, not only the force for holding the heat pipes is reduced, but also the bottom surface of the combined assembly is uneven with crevices. Such unevenness and crevices may affect the heat transfer negatively, and thus needs to be improved.